WILMINGTON, Del. — Opening arguments are set to start Tuesday within the Dominion Voting Methods’ defamation lawsuit accusing Fox Information of spreading the damaging falsehood that the corporate rigged the 2020 election.

The civil trial in Delaware Superior Court docket arrives greater than two years after Dominion, which sells voting machines and election software program, first accused Fox of knowingly airing lies concerning the firm to be able to enhance its rankings.

The community “deliberately and falsely” blamed Dominion for former President Donald Trump’s loss to President Joe Biden by broadcasting unsubstantiated claims concerning the firm, together with that it meddled with vote tallies, Dominion alleged.

Fox has maintained that the statements made about Dominion on its air are protected by the First Modification, which shields the freedoms of speech and press. The community additionally argued that Dominion’s swimsuit doesn’t set up that the claims had been aired with “precise malice,” a requirement to fulfill the authorized normal for defamation.

The trial’s uncommon circumstances — most defamation instances settle out of courtroom, and few promise in-person testimony from a parade of well-known media figures — together with a 10-figure declare for damages have generated cacophonous media buzz. Nevertheless it’s removed from clear what influence, if any, the case can have on Fox’s popularity or its backside line.

Dominion has additionally filed defamation lawsuits in opposition to Trump’s former legal professional Rudy Giuliani, his ex-campaign lawyer Sidney Powell, right-wing information networks and different figures. Smartmatic, one other elections know-how agency, has filed related defamation lawsuits demanding billions of {dollars} in damages.

However the case in opposition to Fox has seized the highlight in latest months — particularly following the discharge of troves of personal messages and testimony from high Fox Information expertise and executives, together with Fox Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch and opinion host Tucker Carlson.

The communications have solid a shade of scandal over the authorized battle, revealing how some Fox personnel and different high-profile figures reacted behind the scenes to the occasions following the 2020 election. Information retailers had been fast to distinction some Fox personalities’ non-public remarks concerning the election fraud claims with what was being stated on air on the similar time.

The trial is anticipated to last as long as six weeks. However an unexplained delay within the proceedings, and experiences of behind-the-scenes negotiations between Fox and Dominion, solid doubt on whether or not the case would even make it to trial.

And the 2 events clashed Monday on how a lot cash is definitely at stake, with Fox stating Dominion had slashed its damages declare from an unique quantity of $1.6 billion and Dominion holding agency that “the damages declare stays.”

One piece of the lawsuit has already been determined: Choose Eric Davis final month dominated that the statements flagged by Dominion had been, certainly, false. “The proof developed on this civil continuing demonstrates that’s CRYSTAL clear that not one of the Statements regarding Dominion concerning the 2020 election are true,” Davis wrote.

His ruling clarified that the trial jury will decide who’s answerable for publishing the false claims, and if these folks acted with precise malice. That authorized normal means proving that the claims had been revealed with the data they had been false, or with reckless disregard for the reality.

The lead-up to the trial has already been marked by main twists, solely heightening public curiosity.

The choose dominated earlier this month that the 92-year-old Murdoch and his son, Fox Corp. CEO Lachlan Murdoch, might be pressured to testify in courtroom. Different witnesses embody Carlson, Fox Information CEO Suzanne Scott, Sean Hannity and different high TV personalities at Fox.

And in a pretrial listening to final week, Davis sanctioned Fox and its mother or father firm for withholding proof from Dominion in the course of the discovery course of, NBC Information reported.

Recordings made by former Fox producer Abby Grossberg in 2020, which allegedly present Giuliani and Fox host Maria Bartiromo speaking about voting software program, weren’t handed over to Dominion, based on NBC. Grossberg sued the community final month, alleging she was coerced into giving deceptive testimony within the Dominion case.

A Fox spokeswoman stated after the listening to that it had “produced the supplemental data from Ms. Grossberg after we first realized it.”

That is creating information. Please examine again for updates.

— Kevin Breuninger reported from Wilmington, Delaware. Lillian Rizzo reported from Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.